Officer's killer moved to another prison after outcry

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) - A teen convicted of killing a Toledo police officer has been moved out of a Toledo prison after complaints from the officer's family members and colleagues.

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A teen convicted of killing a Toledo police officer has been moved out of a Toledo prison after complaints from the officer’s family members and colleagues.

Robert Jobe was sentenced in 2007 to serve at least 18years for the shooting death of police detective Keith Dressel. After Jobe turned 18 in February, he was moved to the Toledo prison from a southern Ohio site with a young-offender program.

State prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said the move placed Jobe closer to his family.

“We attempt to place inmates in facilities as close to their families as possible in order to help as much as we can in facilitating … their rehabilitation,” Walburn said Friday.

Dressel’s mother, Larraine Dressel, said it hurt to hear that Jobe was placed in Toledo so his family could visit him.

“I can’t visit my son ever again, ever,” she said.

She and Dressel’s father, Mike Dressel, signed a petition opposing the placement of offenders in communities where they committed their crimes. Toledo officers also wrote to the Toledo warden in support of the change.

Walburn said Jobe was moved again in the past week to a prison in Mansfield because of several factors, including public outcry.

Keith Dressel, 35, was shot in February 2007 after he stopped to question Jobe and another man who were standing on a street in the early morning. It was the city’s first killing of a police officer in the line of duty since 1970. Jobe is eligible for parole in 2024.

The Dressels said the prison transfer interrupted their healing.

“You think about what happened, what he did. And where is he at? He’s right there,” Mike Dressel said.

Larraine Dressel also said that Jobe should not have been in the Toledo prison because, if he escaped, he would have had access to an area he’s familiar with and where he knows people.

“Our situation has been fixed,” she said. “He’s been moved. But there are others who need help with this. … Get them away from the victims’ families. Let them breathe. Let them live.”

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction takes transfer requests only from wardens and considers them on a case-by-case basis.